Stories Of The Past
by Estelle4Ever
Summary: During dinner-time, Sirius and Remus recall various memories from their school-days, keeping everyone else in fits of laughter, triggering tears and cries of horror. Because happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if only one chooses to turn on the light. Set during the summer of OotP. Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
1. The Stories Begin

**Hello, everyone!**

 **Here's chapter one of Memories, I hope you like it.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **-Estelle**

* * *

They all sat along the dining table, waiting eagerly for the food to be laid down. The Order meeting had just finished, and Snape, McGonagall, Dumbledore and a few others had departed, meaning the remaining people could sit down for dinner.

"It's been a rather boring few days, hasn't it, Forge?" Fred asked.

"Definitely has, Gred." George replied.

Sirius snorted, "If you think that, then imagine my plight. I live here."

"We pity you." George assured him.

"Don't encourage him to continue his brooding, boys." Tonks said, with a shake of her head. Her hair was long and brown that night, "He's already sullen enough as it is."

"I am _not_. Ask your Mum how torturous it used to be here when we were kids." Sirius retorted.

"You know Tonks's mum?" Ron asked, sounding impressed, "Wow. Only one and a half years out of Azkaban, and you've already met the Order Families?"

"Ronald." Mrs. Weasley sighed exasperatedly, laying down various dishes on the table, "Don't bring up such pessimistic topics during dinner. Tuck in, all of you!"

"No worries, Molly." Sirius said, serving himself a generous amount of pasta, while everyone else gladly helped themselves to the food.

"He should know better than to bring up Azkaban." Molly said sincerely, "Shouldn't you, Ron?"

"Yes, Mum." Ron muttered irritably.

Hermione and Mrs. Weasley exchanged another exasperated glance. Ron turned to gape at Harry, mouthing _'what did I do this time?'_ , to which Harry shrugged.

"It's okay, Molly, really. This place and Azkaban are practically the same thing, minus the dementors. Though Snape can make up for one or two of those. Git tried to throw me back into Azkaban couple of years ago, but now that Dumbledore's told him not to, I've got to deal with seeing his revolting face on a weekly basis. Lucky school starts soon. He won't be able to make it as much." Sirius said moodily.

Remus frowned and opened his mouth, but Sirius turned to Ron, "I've known Tonks's mum since I was born."

"Really?" Ron said, "How?"

"She's my cousin. She's four years older than me."

"Wait...then that means Tonks is your niece!" Ron realized.

"Er...something like that. I prefer 'distant cousin'" Sirius said, "Her calling me an uncle makes me feel ancient."

"What a surprise. _Je ne savais pas que vous avies les cousins_." Fleur said with interest.

" _Tonks de la mere etait la seule decent hors du lot_." Sirius replied. The others stared blankly.

"I zaid I never knew 'e 'ad couzins, and 'e zaid zat Tonks's muzzer was ze only decent one out of all 'ees family." Fleur explained.

"You know french?" Ginny asked Sirius.

" _Mais bien sur._ " Sirius said, "But of course. As a member of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Blacks, I must know French, Latin, Spanish, Greek, and all the rest."

"That's very impressive." Hermione said approvingly.

"So what's your Mum's name, Tonks?" Ron asked.

"Andromeda." the metamorphugus replied.

"And the other cousins?" Ron prodded.

Both Sirius and Tinks looked uncomfortable as Sirius spoke again, "Um, I had a little brother. He was a death eater. He died fifteen years ago. And Andy has two sisters. One of them is in Azkaban with her husband and brother-in-law."

There was some silence.

"Oh." Bill finally said, "No wonder you lot never got along."

"Yeah.." Sirius sighed.

"What was your brother's name? And the Azkaban Cousin?" Fred asked.

Sirius snorted, "You know, to Andromeda, _I'd_ be the Azkaban Cousin."

Fred rolled his eyes, "Answer the question, mate."

"My brother was named Regulus. My cousin is Bellatrix Black. Now Lestrange."

Bill choked on his soup, " _Bellatrix Lestrange_? She's- She's your _cousin_?"

"Oh, yeah, and Tonk's aunt, might I add." Sirius said while Mrs. Weasley glared at her eldest son, "She's a right madcap. Looks a bit like me-"

"She's the female version of you, Sirius." Remus interjected.

Sirius looked wounded, but continued, "I got a brief glimpse of her in Azkaban."

Harry nodded sympathetically, having already heard this story.

"Bellatrix, Sirius, Regulus, Andromeda, Nymphadora..." Hermione said thoughtfully, "Aren't they all constellations, or stars, or something like that?"

"Blacks are named after stars and constellations." Mr. Weasley said helpfully, "Sirius is the brightest star in the sky."

"The Dog Star." added Remus fondly.

"Coincidence that his animagus form, patronus and name are all basically the same thing." Tonks said.

"Hey...you said Andromeda had two sisters. Who's the second one?" George asked curiously.

"Oh, yeah, you might have met her. Harry's mentioned her son in a couple of letters. Not in the best light, but still." Sirius said conversationally.

"So does your cousin have a name?" Ginny asked wryly.

"Course. Narcissa Black-Malfoy."

Ron dropped his spoon, Hermione let out a squeak, and the twins let out horrified 'Blimey!'s. Ginny looked revolted.

"So you're telling me..." she said slowly, "That Draco Malfoy is your nephew."

"Unfortunately." Sirius said, while Remus laughed, "But I was disowned for running away when I was sixteen."

"Where did you go?" Mr. Weasley asked, alarmed. Harry grinned.

"James's house. Took me in like another son, they did."

"The Malfoys are vile." George said in disgust, "Dad got into a fight with Lucius Malfoy once. A muggle duel."

"Alright! Well done, Arthur!" Sirius said in delight, while Arthur beamed.

"Sirius! Arthur! George!" Mrs. Weasley thundered.

"Sorry." they chorused immediately, and everyone laughed.

"What could have _possibly_ possessed Narcissa to marry that horrible man, I don't know." Tonks said, "I'm sure she could have found someone way better."

Sirius got an odd look on his face, and Remus was suddenly rolling on the floor, laughing.

Harry had never seen his ex-professor like this. It warmed his heart.

" _What_ is so funny?" Mrs. Weasley asked sternly.

"Nothing!" Sirius said immediately, but none of them bought it.

"Tell us!" the twins chorused.

Remus sat up, still gasping for breath, "Oh, we have to tell this story. We _have_ to. Shut up Sirius."

Sirius turned to Remus in horror, " _What?_!"

"It's funny." Remus grinned, "Times are dark. We needed _some_ thing to laugh about."

"Find something _else_."

"No, now we definitely have to hear this." Ginny said, and everyone nodded in agreement. Even Mrs. Weasley seemed to preen a little.

Sirius shook his head vehemently, "No. Absolutely _not_. It's _humiliating._ "

"Too bad." Remus said, and everyone leaned forward to catch the story, "Okay. So, it started after the summer of our fifth year..."


	2. Betrothed

**Hey everyone!**

 **Thank you to everyone who's been reading this. I've changed the title, as you can see, from Memories to Stories of the Past, because it seemed more fitting. I thought the title 'Memories' for such a story was kind of generic.**

 **So, anyway, I hope you like this. If you've read my A/N, please add #Betrothed to your reviews. Thanks!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **-Estelle**

* * *

"We'd just gotten back from our summer break, so it was the starting of fifth year." Remus said, his eyes twinkling.

Sirius looked desperate, "Re- _mus_."

"Shut up."

Sirius scowled harder. He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, and then scowled again and sat back dejectedly.

"Okay." Remus said, "So, we'd just arrived at school, and me, James, Sirius and Peter-" Sirius glared heavily at this- "used to find a compartment and sit together every year."

"Duh." Fred and George chorused.

"So, as usual, James was talking about Quidditch-"

" _Blabbering_ about Quidditch." Sirius interjected, "Honestly, I love Quidditch, and I was on the team, but half the things he said didn't make _sense_. _How_ was hitting a bludger at the opposing team's chaser supposed to help distract the opposing _Seeker_?" Sirius shook his head, "If he'd spent _half_ as much time actually playing as he did yelling at me, he'd have scored a lot more. Marly ended up doing that for him."

"Wait." Harry turned to his godfather in amazement, "You played Quidditch?"

"Yes." said Sirius, as if it pained him that anyone would question it, "Beater."

"Wicked!" the twins chorused in delight.

"And he was excellent. So was James. They were the best on the team. Though..." Remus's brow puckered, "After James was made captain, he did become kind of _intense_ , you know? Waking the team up at dawn for practice, sending Sirius up to the girls' dormitories to wake them up. That sort of thing."

"Sounds like Oliver." Ginny said appreciatively.

" _Girls dormitories?_ " Hermione repeated, "No one was ever sent into girls dormitories to wake the team up."

"James's fault." Sirius said with a shrug, "I never went in, actually, just shouted for them from outside."

"Good." Mrs. Weasley nodded approvingly, "That's a gentleman."

"No, it was just because his girlfriend was on the team with him. They devised a system so Sirius wouldn't have to shout too much, and the girls would still be on time." Remus explained.

"Girlfriend?" Bill asked with interest.

"Dead." answered Sirius in a hollow voice.

"Anyway!" Remus said loudly, "We all boarded the train, and found each other and settled in a compartment. We took the same one every year- the one I met you in, Harry."

Harry, Ron and Hermione grinned.

"So Sirius was late, and James, Peter and I started to worry, but as if on cue, dear Sirius stomps in, slams the door shut, throws himself onto the seat, glares around, and says, 'hi'."

Everyone roared with laughter, drowning out Sirius's protests.

"He was furious, didn't speak much, and we were too scared to ask why. He's terrifying when he's angry." Remus went on, "When his cousins and his brother walked by our compartment. Bellatrix tried to push Narcissa in, and they had an argument standing in front of the door. Finally, Narcissa came in stiffly, sat next to Sirius and said 'Bella said stay for ten minutes.'." Remus grinned, "We expected Sirius to kick her out, of course, but he jut said, 'If you must.'."

Everyone glanced at Sirius, confused.

"So we sat quietly for ten minutes, and the minute the time was up, she got up, said bye to Sirius- and only Sirius, might I add- and flounced off." the werewolf said, "After that, I asked Sirius why he allowed her in, but he didn't answer me, so I dropped it, and started a game of Exploding Snap with James."

"Later, after we finished the game, Narcissa came back in- just as stiffly- and asked Sirius to tie her necklace for her."

George and Ginny exchanged one glance and they both burst out laughing. Sirius looked irritable. Tonks looked scandalized, "You and and Narcissa? Gross."

Of course, everyone snorted at this.

"So." Remus ploughed on, To our intense surprise, he obliged. Then she stood back and said 'How do I look?' and Sirius said 'Brilliant, as always.' But they said it so monotonously that it was like they were reciting lines. Then Narcissa left, and James demanded an answer from Sirius. His exact words were-" Remus snorted, "-You and your cousins spent too much time together during the holidays. Explain before I jump to conclusions."

Harry and Ron snickered. Fred was rolling on the floor, while Hermione frowned at James's lack of tact.

"So Sirius took a deep breath and said 'James, you're a pureblood, but your family doesn't follow this..system.' and James said that he didn't care, explain anyways. So Sirius asked us...'Guys, have you ever heard the term 'betrothed'?'."

The adults seemed to be paralyzed. Arthur broke the silence by coughing loudly. Molly looked half horrified and half amused. Tonks shuddered. Bill started to laugh, while everyone else looked plainly confused.

"Betrothed." Sirius sighed, "Is when your parents decide who you will marry shortly after your birth, or sometimes before you are born."

"So.." Hermione said slowly, "It's like being engaged from birth? No matter who you date or fall in love with, you'll have to marry whoever your parents arranged for? Whoever your betrothed to?"

Sirius nodded, "Exactly."

"But..." Ginny said, horrified, "But what if you fall in love with someone else? You have to marry someone you don't love?"

"Yup. Sometimes, people are lucky enough to fall in love after marriage. And when you grow, you can choose someone else, _only_ if he or she is a pureblood, wealthy and from a respectable family. But it's rare."

"All purebloods do this?" George asked.

"No, no, of course not. You're not betrothed, are you? Neither was James. It's only for those old pureblood families who still believe in pureblood superiority. Bellatrix was betrothed to Rudlophus Lestrange, now they're married. And Andy ran away and eloped, and was blasted of the family tree, so she lost her betrothed. Lucky her. Mulciber's nasty." Sirius shuddered.

"But what's that got to do with you, Sirius?" Harry asked curiously.

"Well..." Remus said, "The Black Family do a lot of...inter-breeding. To keep their blood completely pure. Even if you marry a wealthy pureblood, like Lestrange, you are no longer a Black. There's always that pair that already have the surname Black, even before marriage. So the wife won't even have to change her last name."

"Hold on..." Hermione said, "You're telling me... you're telling _us_...that _Sirius_ was supposed to marry _Narcissa_?"

Every jaw dropped, and they looked at Sirius for confirmation.

Slowly, looking furious, Sirius nodded.

The information seemed to render them momentarily speechless.

"But you two are... _cousins_." Ron said weakly.

Sirius nodded again.

Nobody spoke. For a long while, all was silent. Remus was fighting hard to keep the grin off his face, and Sirius was scowling heavily.

Mrs. Weasley broke the silence.

The minute they heard her voice, they didn't know what to expect- shouts, cries, disgusted exclamations?- and they held their breath until they realized with a shock that-

She was laughing.

Clutching her stomach and bending over, quite unable to control herself. Then Remus joined her.

The silence broke, and every single occupant starting laughing as well.

"Imagine your kids!" Fred hiccuped.

Sirius groaned.

"Well, why _didn't_ you get married?" Tonks gasped, "Now that I think of it, it might've been a match made in heaven!"

"I ran away, so I was disowned, so Narcissa married choice number two. Malfoy. They fell in love. I'm glad for that." Sirius said firmly.

Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment, before dissolving into laughter again.

"It's _not funny._ " said Sirius grumpily.

"But it _is_." Bill snorted.

"Shut up. I can tell you loads of embarrassing stories about Moony."

"Like...?" Remus said teasingly. Harry wondered whether Lupin had ever done anything embarrassing.

"He was the commentator for Quidditch." Sirius smirked.

Remus's grin vanished, " _No."_

"Oh, yes."

"Sirius, _no_."

"You didn't listen to me when _I_ said no. You told my story anyway. Why shouldn't I tell yours?"

Remus gaped, but he was defeated by Sirius's logic. If Harry were him, he would have kept arguing, but Remus was more like Hermione.

If proved wrong by logic, just accept that you are wrong. Even if it meant instant humiliation.

"Fine." Remus grumbled, "Make it fast."

Sirius shook his head, "You will die a slow, painful death."

Remus groaned.

"Listen." Sirius said, and immediately, he had everyone's attention, "So, it was sixth year, and we had a game against Ravenclaw, and Remus, as usual, was our _wonderful_ commentator..."


End file.
